James E. Causey | In My Opinion

Pastor is vocal on sexual health

The Rev. Andrena Ingram spoke at All Peoples Church in Milwaukee on Feb. 23.

The Rev. Andrena Ingram told the congregation at All Peoples Church on Sunday that God has a great sense of humor and he teaches you lessons all the time.

Ingram, 59, has been living with HIV for 25 years. She thanked church members for their hospitality and told them it was ironic they had her staying in a renovated duplex across the street from the church during her visit here.

The duplex was a crack house years ago, but today you would never know it looking at the fresh paint and new siding. The former crack house was symbolic of Ingram's life and how it had come full circle.

More than 25 years ago, she said, she spent a lot of time in crack houses in New York City's South Bronx getting high trying to forget about the years of sexual abuse she endured from her father and the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her then-husband.

On Sunday, she gave the congregation a history lesson. She talked about slavery and how black women were raped by their slave owners. She talked about how these women's children were taken from them and sold. She also talked about another taboo subject that few ever mention: the number of sexually transmitted diseases that were spread during that time.

Home remedies were used, and most of the time they offered little relief, she said. That was then; this is now.

"It's time for us to protect ourselves. We are no longer victims," she said.

Today, sexually transmitted diseases are 100% preventable, yet the HIV rates for African-American gay and bisexual men in Milwaukee is 27%, ranking the city among the highest in the nation for that group.

According to the Wisconsin Sexually Transmitted Disease 2012 surveillance report, chlamydia and gonorrhea have exploded in the African-American community. Nearly 51% of the chlamydia cases and 63% of the gonorrhea cases are in African-Americans, with a majority of these cases falling in the 15- to 29-year-old age group.

Milwaukee's chlamydia and gonorrhea cases rank among the worst in the nation for a city our size, according to Diverse & Resilient Inc., a local agency with HIV and STI prevention programs.

On Thursday, the agency will hold a Launch Party from 5 to 7 p.m. in the City Hall Rotunda to talk about a new campaign to address the STD crisis in the city. The event is free and open to the public.

Ingram, pastor of St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, said the numbers show that the church needs to be a leader in talking about sexual health, the important of knowing one's status and how to protect yourself.

"I don't care who you are sleeping with, but I do want you to be safe," Ingram said. "I don't care if you are straight, lesbian or gay; it's time to get over (the labels) and come in off the plantation."

The pastor did tell the church that the safest sex is no sex at all, but she warned people to know their status, carry a condom and know their history from "which you came."

"Once you have a purpose, you know that your body is a temple and you protect yourself more," she said.

From hearing Ingram speak, one would never imagine the trauma she experienced. She grew up in the borough of Queens, N.Y., with both parents. Her father worked, and her mother took care of the children. Her life was wonderful until she turned 9. Her father started to drink, and then he began to molest her.

She recalled how the atmosphere of the home would change when he was there because the family never knew what kind of mood he would be in. She got married to a young man in the neighborhood and stayed in that relationship too long. She left her husband after her daughter witnessed him striking her.

She moved back into the home where the abuse began and tried to to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, but she ended up picking up a bottle and cocaine instead.

Things didn't start to improve for Ingram until she realized that she hurt people, and she fought to get into rehab. It was there she met her second husband, who was recovering from heroin use. She became pregnant, and when all seemed right with the world, he noticed a sore on his arm. When he got it checked, he learned he had HIV. He died six months later.

She also was diagnosed with the disease, but she refused to let it be her death sentence. She reached out to the church and discovered her purpose in life, which ultimately lead her to attend seminary school.

Ingram has battled some health problems and bouts of depression, but she said she will continue to spread the message of acceptance.

The church needs to be more vocal on the issue of sexual health beyond saying, "just say no." That is not working, and people need to know and understand that they can protect themselves.

Educating the public and displaying acceptance and compassion can empower them to protect themselves.